The Child Emperor

Champions worry about gains and losses. Sometimes they feel that success is imminent, and sometimes they feel that disaster is imminent. Looking around, they can't see the future trend, and can't find a loyal minister they can rely on.

The newly married wife was sobbing in a low voice, and the champion Hou sneered: "The Cui family is really willing to spend their money and send their biological daughter to the fire pit."

"Husband, why did you say this?" Cui Shi was even more sad, knowing that it was sarcasm, but couldn't help but ask.

"Cui Hong saw that I was in danger, but he refused to send soldiers and soldiers to help. I'm an outsider, and it's nothing, but what about you? Does he not care about it at all? Before marrying you, I should really be good Ask about your status at home."

Cui Shi cried, and the grievances could not be added.

Champion Hou was upset and said angrily: "What's the use of crying? Can tears turn into soldiers? Besides, what are you afraid of? You are the daughter of the Cui family. When I die, the Cui family will find another one for you. A good family, you might be Marquis Tien, and you still have a chance to be an imperial concubine."

Cui Shi is the youngest in the family, and is usually well-loved. He has never heard such serious words, and his heart is broken. He cried, "If it really happens, I will follow my husband to Huangquan, and I will never live."

"Hey." Champion Hou sneered, he doesn't trust anyone now.

Someone coughed outside the door, and the champion Hou strode out of the room, dismissing his wife.

An old servant whispered: "The two censors have arrived."

"It's a big surprise that there are still people willing to come. What should I do? Welcome?"

The old servant was embarrassed and lowered his head and said, "Master Xiao and Master Shen are important officials in the court, and they are here..."

"Even you can come up with ideas, why don't you talk about how I can become the emperor?"

The old servant immediately knelt down, "Champion Hou forgives my sins, I was confused for a while..."

"Take me to see them." He reprimanded an old servant, unable to vent the nervousness in Champion Hou's heart.

The censors of Zuo Cha were in charge of the capital officials, and the censors of the right patrol were in charge of officials from other places. Originally, the well water did not violate the river water, but because they had the opportunity to take over the post of prime minister, they were naturally opponents. Xiao Sheng and Shen Mingzhi were no exception. They fought openly and secretly for many years, but At a critical juncture, the two immediately abandoned their previous suspicions and joined forces to protect themselves.

The champion Hou was not confused to the end, he was more polite to the two ministers who were willing to come to the door, and greeted him with a smile, as if he still had the chance to win.

The two censors were not so calm. After the host and guests were seated, Xiao said, "Marquis Tien has left the capital..."

"What?" Champion Hou was taken aback, his hand shook, and tea was sprinkled on his body. The servant next to him hurriedly stepped forward to wipe it. Champion Hou put down the teacup and waved his hand to order all the servants in the hall to retreat. It was worry, "What do you mean? Marquis Tien quit the race for the throne?"

"It seems so." Xiao Sheng was also very surprised. He was even ready to turn to Marquis Juan when necessary. Unexpectedly, Marquis Tien would leave if he wanted to leave. After tossing in the capital for a long time, he retreated at the last moment. The warrior, who showed off his power outside the court for a long time, fled immediately as soon as the opponent entered the court, much to the disappointment of the audience.

The champion Hou was speechless.

Shen Mingzhi was more mature and said, "I'm afraid things are not so simple."

"What do you think, Lord Shen?" Champion Hou's tone was more polite.

"I got the exact news that Marquis Juan was sent out of the city by the eunuch in the palace, which means Marquis Tien was ordered by the Queen Mother."

"In other words, the queen mother is not crazy." Champion Hou murmured.

Xiao Sheng and Shen Mingzhi glanced at each other. Only at this time did they realize that the Queen Mother was pretending to be crazy. The Champion Hou's reaction was indeed too slow, but the two had no better choice.

"The fight for the throne is fake, the election of the emperor is fake, Cui Hong's support is fake... Where is the minister? There has been no news from the prime minister's residence for three days. The two adults..."

Xiao Sheng said first: "Prime Minister Yin swayed with the wind. We are loyal to the champion Hou. You are the only descendant of Prince Ju, and you are the most qualified to inherit the throne. We have also assisted Prince Ju, and we have absolutely nothing to do with it."

When Prince Ju was killed, he never heard of these two censors standing up to protect the master. Champion Hou held back the sarcasm in his heart and said, "King Ying was assassinated and Hou Wan left the capital, so I and the King of the East Sea are the only ones left, the King of the East China Sea. I don't have any skills, don't be afraid of him, the key is still the Queen Mother, Shangguansheng's Eighth Battalion of Suwei is controlling the whole city, what should I do? What should we do?"

Of course, Xiao Sheng and Shen Mingzhi didn't come to ask for help. They brought a plan and glanced at each other. Still Xiao Sheng said, "The situation has not reached the point of no return."

"Oh?" Champion Hou leaned over, and after he was turned down to ask Mrs. Cui for help, this was the only good news he heard.

Xiao Sheng continued: "The queen mother is a smart person. She divided the ministers and ruled them in a very short period of time, and mastered the power of the court, but she was too smart, but she buried a great disaster for herself."

"What do you say?" Champion Hou immediately regarded Xiao Sheng as his new right-hand man.

"It has to start from scratch."

"I'm in no hurry."

"Emperor Huan has been in power for four years, Emperor Si has been on the throne for less than a year, and the Empress Dowager has only been in politics for more than six years. How can she control the power?"

"Why?" Champion Hou asked in cooperation, but he was a little dissatisfied. He was not in the mood to listen to old things.

"The root is in Emperor Wu."

The champion was silent. Speaking of Emperor Wu, his mood was extremely complicated. He was not only his grandfather, the most powerful emperor of Great Chu, who created a heyday with his own hands, and was also a tyrant who killed Prince Ju.

"Emperor Wu first subdued the power of the clan and the nobles to prevent anyone from coveting the throne." Because it involved the death of Prince Ju, Xiao Sheng remarked on this past, "When Emperor Wu established Emperor Huan as the prince, he suddenly discovered There is no trustworthy person around the prince, so in the last few years, he focused on attacking the minister."

Champion Hou has a deep understanding of the words "there is no credible person", especially the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. Even when he supported the champion Hou the most, he seemed reserved and indifferent, which made the champion Hou feel angry, and now he feels hopeless.

Xiao Sheng remembered the past and let out a long sigh, "I won't go into details. Before Emperor Wu died, the officials below the prime minister were almost replaced. Yin Wuxian and Han Xing were able to be reused because they were weak and incompetent. above the emperor."

Speaking of Yin Wuxian, the champion Hou sneered, "I understand what Mr. Xiao means, but what does this have to do with the Queen Mother?"

"After the adjustment of Emperor Wu, the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty developed a habit of never participating in the struggle in the palace. Emperor Wu thought that in this way, Emperor Huan could do nothing to defend his success. But after Emperor Huan took the throne, his temperament changed. Make a difference, but can't find a minister who is determined to forge ahead."

Xiao Sheng and Shen Mingzhi looked at each other again and sighed at the same time, neither of them wanted to "forge ahead".

"Emperor Huan wanted to replace the minister, but he didn't have time to do it. Then Emperor Si ascended the throne, and the empress dowager came to rule. The champion should understand that after Emperor Wu's ruthless admonition and Emperor Huan's almost shot-down suppression, the minister... how much we people do things. Be careful."

Champion Hou suddenly woke up, Xiao Sheng was not telling the past for no reason, he was using a circuitous way to justify why all the ministers did not stand up to avenge Prince Ju.

Champion Hou was persuaded. He understood the feeling of trepidation. Every time there was a change in the palace, he would be so frightened that he couldn't sleep at home, fearing that one day he would follow in his father's footsteps.

"The queen mother took advantage of the minister's discretion." The champion Hou continued on for Xiao Sheng, "The queen mother supported the criminals and arrested the children of the clan who were related to the king of Qi, but tried to keep the ministers still. In the past few years, the palace has changed one after another, and the court has changed. But there are few changes, so you are satisfied, watching the Queen Mother tossing."

The faces of the two censors turned slightly red, and Xiao said: "The prime minister has lost his position, and the civil and military groups of the dynasty have no leader, so do we..."

"I don't blame you, it's the same when I'm a minister in the court." Champion Hou reassured, "What do you mean by saying that the queen mother is too smart?"

"The Queen Mother's tossing allowed the minister to see the truth. Before that, the minister acted cautiously because we were jealous of each other, and it was true. Not long ago, I suspected that Lord Shen had ulterior motives."

Shen Mingzhi smiled slightly, "I also thought Lord Xiao was a vassal of the Cui family."

The two looked at each other tacitly, and they still had doubts about each other, but they didn't want to show it for the time being.

"But the queen mother's intrigues and tricks have made us understand one thing. It turns out that everyone will not meddle in their own business: no one opposes the queen mother, but no one really supports the queen mother, everyone's attitude towards the Hou Juan and the current emperor. It's all like that."

"Is this a good thing?" Champion Hou asked coldly.

"It's a good thing for Marquis Juan." Xiao Sheng affirmed that in Shenxiongguan, he underestimated the enemy for a while and lost to Marquis Juan, but in the capital, he was well prepared but could easily "defeat" his opponent, "Champion Marquis You should think about it this way, the queen mother is actually weak and weak, no one opposes it is just an illusion, the truth is that no one supports it. The champion Hou can turn things around with very little help."

"Very little help" naturally refers to the two loyal censors.

"But Shangguan Sheng is in charge of the Eighth Battalion of Suwei..."

"If you have the official seal, you can control tens of thousands of soldiers, then Shangguan Xu would not lose the southern army..." Xiao Sheng stopped in time, because the champion Hou was also losing the northern army, "The queen mother is too impatient this time, Suwei Eighth Battalion The other half are old people, Shangguan Sheng didn't have time to replace or win over them, this is the chance for the champion."

Champion Hou's confidence rose, "Will these old people be loyal to me?"

Xiao Sheng had to endure the contempt in his heart and said with a smile: "These people follow the trend, and it is possible to devote allegiance to anyone, as long as the champion fights for..."

"It's too late."

"It's too late." Shen Mingzhi, who rarely spoke, said, "The structure of the capital is chaotic, and there is a loophole that has not been noticed by the Empress Dowager and Shangguan Sheng: Han Xing is stationed in Hangu Pass, and the Grand Governor's Mansion is empty. Armed with the Tiger Talisman, you can command the Eighth Battalion of the Guards."

The champion Hou Yi was startled, "With only the tiger talisman, and without the Ministry of War's official documents and imperial decrees, can the Eighth Battalion of Suwei be allowed to obey?"

"Even if they can't obey the orders of the champion, they can still create chaos and make Shangguansheng's position even more unstable, and the champion will have the opportunity to rush into the inner palace and snatch the treasure seal."

Champion Hou thought that the two censors had brought a foolproof plan, but he didn't expect it to be a big adventure, more exaggerated than his boldest imagination.

Shen Mingzhi still wanted to persuade, Xiao Sheng winked, and said, "Let the champion think about it, let's contact other ministers, maybe someone is willing to help, we will come back before dark."

The champion Hou nodded blankly.

After leaving the Hou residence, Shen Mingzhi said to Xiao Sheng, "I'm afraid the champion Hou doesn't have the courage."

"We have to push him up, we're still not careful enough, it's too early." Xiao Sheng sighed, secretly admiring Yin Wuxian in his heart, the old guy can now sit back and watch the tiger fight.

"You go to test the movement of the Ministry of War, and I'll go to find out about the East Sea King and the Marquis of Juan. There may be a turning point." Shen Mingzhi said, Xiao Sheng had no other way and nodded in agreement.

Inside the Hou Mansion, the champion was still in a state of shock and hesitating. The old servant walked in and said softly, "Little Hou Ye's biological mother is here and was invited to the back house by his wife."

The champion Hou hummed, not caring about the meeting of the two wives.